Ross man arrested on child porn charges

April 14, 2014 2:35 PM

By Liz Navratil / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

An aquatics director at a local YMCA branch has been arrested on child pornography charges after state officials said they found more than 250 videos and 58,000 still images of illicit materials during a search of his devices.

Hart Williams, 28, was arrested Friday and is being held in the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of $80,000 bond, according to court records. He did not have an attorney on file.

Agents from the Pennsylvania attorney general's office and the Ross police department worked on the case for one month. During that time, they traced images of child pornography to an IP address covering Mr. Williams' apartment and conducted a search of it, seizing a computer tower, MacBook Pro laptop, two thumb drives and an external hard drive, according to a news release from the attorney general's office.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled before District Judge Richard Opiela April 23.

Mr. Williams was hired part-time by the Baierl Family YMCA in April 2013 and in August became the full-time aquatics director. The YMCA learned of the charges last week and immediately suspended Mr. Williams, said Stephan Davis, senior vice president of human resources and leadership.

He said Mr. Williams passed a background check before he was hired and, "We never had a single complaint from children or families."

"The safety and well-being of our children is of highest priority," Mr. Davis said. "Obviously, we're cooperating fully with the police in this matter."